Let's Brew - 1885 Mew Langton Gibraltar Porter

Not content with brewing the one Porter, Mew Langton also brewed an export version. And not just for anywhere. It was specifically for Gibraltar. I’m guessing that it was mostly intended for British military personnel.

Like their domestic Porter, three malts were employed. The classic London combination of pale, brown and black. The difference being that there’s no sugar. Making this an all-malt beer.

The hopping was a good bit heavier, as you would expect of an export beer. Ten pounds per quarter (336 lbs) of malt compared with just six. Which is reflected in much higher (calculated) IBU count.

The hops themselves were an even split between American and Bavarian, the former from the 1884 harvest, the latter from 1885.

I’ve lowered the FG from the 1021º listed in the log as this beer would have undergone a long secondary fermentation.

1885 Mew Langton Gibraltar Porter
pale malt	10.75 lb	82.69%
brown malt	1.125 lb	8.65%
black malt	1.125 lb	8.65%
Cluster 90 mins	2.50 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	2.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1054
FG	1013
ABV	5.42
Apparent attenuation	75.93%
IBU	74
SRM	34
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	65º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley ale

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1884 Mew Langton Porter

Just for a change, not a recipe from a book I'm plugging. But from one I've yet to finish. "Free!" my account of beer ion the UK from 1880 to 1914.

I haven't looked at the manuscript for a while, being busy with other books. It's in a funny state. Some bits are pretty much done. In particular, the introductory sections about the industry, ingredients, equipment and processes. Then there are the beer styles. Ranging from finished to not started.

I couldn't help tinkering a bit as I looked through. Especially bits which I could tell were taken from "Beer, Ale and Malt Liquor"manuscript, which I wrote more than a decade ago. It reads really weird to me. Not how I would write now at all.

Anyway, on with the book excerpt.

One of the big surprises of Mew Langton’s records was the amount of Porter they brewed. Outside of London and Ireland, Porter wasn’t that popular any more. Not sure why that was. Maybe the Isle of Wight was just a bit behind the times.

Mew’s Porter looks very similar to London-brewed versions, both in terms of gravity and recipe. For a start, there’s 10% brown malt. Most brewers outside London had dropped brown malt long before the 1880s, preferring a simple pale and black malt combination.

In addition to the malts, there’s a sugar described as “Natal”. I’ve assumed that’s some sort of raw cane sugar. Which seems reasonable enough.

The only real difference with a London Porter is the hopping, which is noticeably more restrained. Half of the hops were from Kent, the rest split between America and Bavaria. All from the 1883 crop. 

1884 Mew Langton Porter
pale malt	7.75 lb	68.13%
brown malt	1.125 lb	9.89%
black malt	0.75 lb	6.59%
brown sugar	1.75 lb	15.38%
Cluster 90 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.50 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1055
FG	1013
ABV	5.56
Apparent attenuation	76.36%
IBU	41
SRM	30
Mash at	147º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	64º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley ale

Let's Brew - 1884 Mew Langton Porter

One of the big surprises of Mew Langton’s records was the amount of Porter they brewed. Outside of London and Ireland, Porter wasn’t that popular any more. Not sure why that was. Maybe the Isle of Wight was just a bit behind the times.

Mew’s Porter looks very similar to London-brewed versions, both in terms of gravity and recipe. For a start, there’s 10% brown malt. Most brewers outside London had dropped brown malt long before the 1880s, preferring a simple pale and black malt combination.

In addition to the malts, there’s a sugar described as “Natal”. I’ve assumed that’s some sort of raw cane sugar. Which seems reasonable enough.

The only real difference with a London Porter is the hopping, which is noticeably more restrained. Half of the hops were from Kent, the rest split between America and Bavaria. All from the 1883 crop. 

1884 Mew Langton Porter
pale malt	7.75 lb	68.13%
brown malt	1.125 lb	9.89%
black malt	0.75 lb	6.59%
brown sugar	1.75 lb	15.38%
Cluster 90 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.00 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.50 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1055
FG	1013
ABV	5.56
Apparent attenuation	76.36%
IBU	41
SRM	30
Mash at	147º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	64º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley ale

Let's Brew - 1885 Mew Langton XXXX Ale

Yet another Mew Langton beer. You may have noticed a theme. They will all feature in yet another book I'm halfway through writing.

Strongest of Mew Langton’s beers by far was XXXX Ale. That’s quite a common name for an Old Ale. What’s unusual is that they didn’t produce any other X Ales. Not even a single X.

A pretty expensive beer. An Imperial pint bottle sold for 6d. Or treble the price of a pint of draught Mild Ale. Unusually, it only seems to have been available in bottles, as there are no casks listed in the price list I’ve seen.

It’s not a beer they brewed very often. In the period October 1884 to December 1885, this was the only brew. And there were only 54 barrels of it. Along with 84 barrels of 4d. In a parti-gyle that I don’t totally understand.

There’s nothing at all fancy or complicated about the recipe: a single type of pale malt and a whole load of Farnham hops. You really can’t get any simpler than that.

No doubt because of the quantity of grain, two mash tuns were used. There was an infusion, an underlet and a small sparge in each. Followed by a rather large sparge which seems to have been specifically for 4d.

The Farnham hops were pretty fresh, all coming from the 1884 harvest. Just a few months old when this beer was brewed in early march. 

1885 Mew Langton XXXX Ale
pale malt	23.50 lb	100.00%
Goldings 120 mins	4.50 oz
Goldings 60 mins	4.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	4.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1101
FG	1030
ABV	9.39
Apparent attenuation	70.30%
IBU	127
SRM	7.5
Mash at	149º F
Sparge at	185º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley ale

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1884 Mew Langton Stock Osborne Pale Ale

If all has gone to plan, I'll be in Pohang South Korea when this is published. Hopefully swilling down beer with the kids.

And here’s the reason why I’m sure the preceding Osborne Pale Ale wasn’t aged. Because there was also a stock version of the beer.

How does it differ from the standard version? There’s about 50% more sugar in the grist. Not such a big deal. Though it does leave the colour a little darker.

As you’ve probably guessed, the biggest difference is in the hopping. Which is 16 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt, compared to 12lbs in the standard version. Unsurprisingly, this leave the calculate bitterness level 50% higher.

A single infusion and three sparges were employed again.

A quarter of the hops are Farnhams from the 1884 harvest, the rest Kent from 1883.

This would have been aged, along with Brettanomyces, for at least 12 months.
 

1884 Mew Langton Stock Osborne Pale Ale
pale malt	11.00 lb	86.27%
No. 1 invert sugar	1.75 lb	13.73%
Fuggles 90 mins	3.25 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	3.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	2.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1061
FG	1014
ABV	6.22
Apparent attenuation	77.05%
IBU	95
SRM	7
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	66º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley ale

 

Let's Brew - 1884 Mew Langton Osborne Pale Ale

I'm continuing with my Mew Langton theme. Why? BEcause I've never published any of their recipes before.

The next Pale Ale from Mew Langton is a very special beer. It’s described in their price list thus “as supplied to Her Majesty's Household”. Osborne House being Queen Victoria’s summer residence on the Isle of Wight.

I’ve learnt to be sceptical of the claims of brewery adverts. But this is something I don’t think they could lie about. There would have been repercussions.

Not much to the grist again. There’s a lot more pale malt and a lot less sugar. And the latter is No. 1 rather than No. 2. Which is what you would expect in a classy Pale Ale. And what could be classier than a beer for Queen Victoria?

No underlet, this time. Just a single infusion mash and three sparges.

All Kent hops, most from the 1883 harvest along with a few from 1884. For a Pale Ale of this strength, it’s not that heavily hopped at just 12 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt.

1884 Mew Langton Osborne Pale Ale
pale malt	12.25 lb	90.74%
No. 1 invert sugar	1.25 lb	9.26%
Fuggles 90 mins	2.00 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	2.00 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	2.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.75 oz
OG	1062
FG	1019
ABV	5.69
Apparent attenuation	69.35%
IBU	64
SRM	8
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	180º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	63º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley ale

 

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1884 Mew Langton Guinea Pale Ale

Not sure why this was called Guinea Pale Ale. That’s 21 shillings. But I know from price lists that this cost 42 shillings for a barrel.  Unless that’s the price of a half barrel. Other breweries used the name, too. I guess customers understood what it meant. Or didn’t care.

There’s even less to report about this grist. One malt one sugar. Quite a lot of the latter, Over 25% of the total.

A bit more complexity to the mash. Which went mash, underlet, sparge, sparge, sparge. Sounds like the name of a really bad late 1960s pop band.

Nothing too exciting with the hops. Half Kent and half Mid-Kent. Both from the 1883 season. 

1884 Mew Langton Guinea Pale Ale
pale malt	8.00 lb	72.73%
No. 2 invert sugar	3.00 lb	27.27%
Fuggles 90 mins	1.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.75 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1057
FG	1014
ABV	5.69
Apparent attenuation	75.44%
IBU	58
SRM	11
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley ale

Let's Brew - 1884 Mew Langton Family Pale Ale

A range of Pale Ales was brewed by Mew Langton. The weakest of which was FA. Which I assume stood for “Family Ale”.

It’s weaker than their Mild Ale, which was pretty typical for a Light Bitter, which is what this is. Despite its fairly modest gravity, a very high degree of attenuation leaves it not far short of 6% ABV.

There’s not a lot going on in the grist, which consists of just base malt and sugar. Two types of the latter, though there was only a tiny amount of No. 1 invert. The vast majority being in the form of No. 2 invert. I’m not sure what the point was in using such a small amount of No. 1. Especially as it cost quite a bit more than No. 2 – 17 shillings a hundredweight compared to 15 shillings.

A fairly simple mashing scheme was employed: a single infusion, followed by three sparges, all at 175º F.

The hops were mostly Kent, with rather smaller quantities of American and Bavarian. All coming from the 1883 crop.

1884 Mew Langton Family Pale Ale
pale malt	9.25 lb	87.06%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.125 lb	1.18%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.25 lb	11.76%
Cluster 90 mins	0.75 oz
Hallertau 90 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.25 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1050
FG	1005.5
ABV	5.89
Apparent attenuation	89.00%
IBU	53
SRM	7.5
Mash at	148º F
Sparge at	175º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley ale